Wicked Blue
by Blowing Wind
Summary: Sequel to MDLS. Alternate Universe: Sasuke and Sakura's oldest twins found love in the most unexpected place.
1. Rhode Island

Chapter 1: Rhode Island

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New Port, Rhode Island.  
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Daisuke Uchiha, known to his close families and friends simply as Caleb, was in a foul mood. He was the kind of man who expected doors to open when he knocked, phones to be answered when he dialed. What he didn't expect and hate tolerate was having his Range Rover break down on a narrow two lane road ten miles from his destination. At least the car phone had allowed him to track down the closest mechanic around here. He hadn't been overly thrill about riding into New Port in a the tow truck while he had to endure an ear splitting singing from the driver who sing and off-key tone in between bites of an enormous sandwich.

"Joe, you just called me Joe." the driver had told him. "Syd will fix you up good. Best damn mechanic around here, you ask anyone."

Caleb decided that he would take the driver's words for it. To save time and trouble, Caleb has asked the mechanic nicely as possible in his black mood, to drop him off at a local restaurant for lunch and to have the address of the auto shop. Of course, while his car was in the garage, he did not waste any time getting some work done. Caleb heaved a sigh as he thought over why he bothered to come up to Rhode Island himself. While driving from New York seemed like a good idea at the time, he did not registered the fact that he had left loads of paperwork behind for his secretary to file.

Maybe the chance of getting out of the Big Apple was the chance that he could not pass up. He loved New York, not to be mistaken, but the thought of getting out of the busy streets, the glamorous lifestyle and tall skyscrapers was, in his estimation, worthwhile. It was that and the fact that his mother had been dropping hints of grandchildren on his life lately.

He adored his mother and that is a fact. Sakura Uchiha was a woman who knows her power and used it full to the extent. Born and raised by her father, she knew how to manipulate everything into her advantages all the while looking so innocent. He recalled the many times she made her husband, Caleb's own father, Sasuke Uchiha, slept on the couch because he had done things like not coming home on time for dinner with his family or could not make it to the his sons' soccer games or his daughter's recital.

This brought some other problems against him in a completely different matter. He hated to disappoint his mother. He had always been a mama's boy since he was little. Doing everything in his power to avoid having his mother look so down was his main objective, but to have her meddle in his life was out of line, even for him. He could not tell his mother to poke her nose in someone else's business would greatly upset her, so he ended avoiding her altogether until she leaves him alone, which is highly unlikely in his opinion.

Then there was his father. Opposite of his mother, Sasuke Uchiha was a quiet man who always cheered his children on becoming what they want in life. Caleb had always looked up to his father as a role model as well as a father. Sasuke Uchiha, in his opinion could be the most caring family man alive or the most ruthless businessman, depending on how one looked at things. He cherished his family above all else and tried his best to be apart of his children everyday lives. It was definitely hard to run multi-billions dollars empire while running around from school to school to catch his children's games and activities.

Caleb was glad that his father did not push him toward marriage. It was enough with his mother on his tail. Having to work along side with his father since he graduated in the top ten percent from New York University, he immediately went in to work in the Uchiha Empire from the lowest status of the rank and work his way up to the Vice president of the Uchiha real Estate Empire. Sasuke had been quite impressive with his determination and intelligence, but that did not apply for some other people. While he did not have to prove to his father, he certainly had to towards other people. He was used to hearing useless babbles about how he got to his place because he was the son's of the owner. It bothered him greatly at first but somewhere along the way, he suppressed that anger and molded into sheer determination to show them his real abilities.

His opportunity came knocking on the door when his father handed him his first project of building a new resort in Rhode Island. He was thrilled and decided to tackle the job full on with his team. Now, the only hard part of this whole project was to convince five stubborn women to sell their rickety mansion to the Uchiha Company and everything would be set to start the actual construction. He calculated that it would not take longer than three years to build the whole resort and hired the necessary staff for the hotel, but it looked like his plan was off since he did not add in a broken down car engine.

The waitress placed his lunch order with an unnecessary smile before winking at him flirtatiously. Caleb responded with a cold nod before returning his thoughts. He was used to having women eyed him like a piece of trophy. Thanks to the Uchiha bloodline and his mother good genes, he was 'ridiculously handsome' as one of his past girlfriend had told him. Caleb mentally snorted at that thought. Lily had gushed over that he was a perfect specimen of the male species because he had looks, power and money, which was why she clung to him all these months.

Honestly, he never had imagined himself truly in love with any women. He was used to one-night stands and flings with actresses, models and singers, but none lasted more than a month. It was not that they were not interesting in their own rights, but none had succeeded to capture his attention. They were all-eager to come to him and gets very clingy when the relationship ends. Caleb bit into his lunch and tried his best to ignore the little voice inside his head that told him he was just being picky and an ass.

Glancing at his Rolex watch, he had wasted almost an hour with idle thoughts of the past. Taking out his wallet, he slipped a fifty-dollar bill, left a generous tip before picking up his briefcase, and asked some locals for the direction to the shop. It certainly was a nice day out with the spring breeze blowing by. While Newport was notoriously known for huge mansions and ancient castles, it did not change the fact that many tourists come each year to enjoy their summer. As he walked down the cobblestones street, he had seen many tourists, young and old enjoying the festivities that the locals put out. Yes, the resort was going to be the new attraction.

The walk to the auto shop was less than ten minutes as Caleb stopped before a small shop with three cars with the hoods all up along with the radio blasting loud rock song of Aerosmith. He mentally smiled at the choice of song. Glancing around the small vicinity, his brows scrunched together as he spotted no one around. Picking his way through the oil and car parts, his nose picked up a ridiculous sent of vanilla and ocean breeze. Narrowing his eyes, he finally saw a pair of scruff boots moving in tune to the rhythm from underneath his car. He suppressed a sigh as he made with way toward the target, intending on asking about his car so he could leave.

"Excuse me?" he called loudly over the music, but the boots kept rocking as if ignoring his call. Narrowing his eyes in annoyance, he kicked the one of the boot lightly with his fine Italian leather shoes only to respond with a kick back from the boot. Quirking a brow, he bend down and poked one of the leg with his fingers.

"Excuse me?" he said again, this time, a grunt was heard.

"What?" the voice from underneath the car said rudely.

"Would you mind coming out of there for a minute?" Caleb asked in what he hope was a polite tone. He was getting impatient now.

"Can't." was the gruff reply he got. "Save me from those rich idiots who have the money to buy expensive cars but didn't take time to care for it. What were they thinking?" was the mumbled that he heard next. Quirking his brow, he was tempted to pull the boots out so that whoever was working on his car could say it to his face.

"Would you care to tell me about my car, please?" Caleb asked, tapping the sole of his shoes with annoyance as he turned off the radio. The damn song was giving him a headache.

There was a paused before he heard the clanking of the wrench hit the concrete floor in a dull thump. "This is your car?" the voice said from underneath the car.

"I believed I already clarified that." Caleb said lacing his voice with irritation. "Would you come out from there and discuss this professionally?"

The sound of wheels rolling from under the car had him grinning in victory. "Are you Syd?" he asked as soon as he saw a young face covered with grime and car oil clad in a dirty overall denim jumper.

"Depends on who is asking?" the boy said with narrowed gaze. Caleb took his time studying the young fellow in front of him. He could only classify him as 'pretty.' Since the lad possessed classic bone structure, pout lips, slim body and very pale unblemished skin, a baseball cap covering his head.

"The owner of the car." He relied easily enough.

"Then yes I am." He replied. For a boy, the lad certainly possessed a very feminine voice. He caught the pale blue eyes taking in his business attire, gaze traveling from the tip of his dark hair to the toe of his Italian shoes clad feet before the boy gave a wrinkle of his nose.

"Figures." Syd mumbled before moving on to take a rag lying around and began cleaning the dirty fingers along with the matching grimy face. "Your car needed a lube job three months ago and the transmission is becoming a little loose." Syd said, "Do you even take your time to check the car over before you drive them long distant? The way you take care of it now, your car could be overheating and you would not even notice. When you buy a car, you need to take care of it, like you do with yourself." He continued to rant facing away from Caleb.

Caleb quirked a brow at the boy's lecture. He certainly nagged like a woman. " Young man, I did not come here to listen to your rant. I want to know if my car could be fixed today?"

Syd narrowed the pale blue eyes at the supposed customer. "Yes, it can be fixed today, and I am not your young man." The voice took a tone of anger before swinging around to face him once more. Caleb suppressed his shock as a very feminine, very beautiful face glared at him coldly.

"Oi, you're a girl." He slipped out before he could stop himself.

Syd narrowed her eyes before nodding once, not trusting herself to speak. As soon as she rolled out of the expensive Range Rover, the first sight she seen was a pair of black leather Italian shoes. Suppressing a sigh, she knew that she would be facing another rich businessmen with their expensive suits and gold cuff links and weird accent from different states, but her shop was doing poorly because not many on the island have the need to fix a second hand car. Therefore, the best way to handle this was to suck up her impatient and deal with the stuffy men calmly. Too bad that resolve flew into the ocean as soon as Syd came in contact with the dark colored wine tie. Every sensible woman knows that the wine tie was the epitome of arrogance itself.

"Come into the office and we'll settle the bill." She said before marching into the shop without waiting to see if he followed or not. Caleb resisted the urged to roll his eyes at the behavior and followed in suited.

He saw her sitting behind a messy desk with papers everywhere. She gestured toward the cracked leather chair opposite of the desk and Caleb thought that was the closest of her telling him to have a seat or stand through their whole ordeal.

What a rude woman!

Sitting on the chair, he did not missed her movement as she pulled out a pad from draw and a pen from her pocket before writing some numbers on the blank paper. Caleb found himself staring at her slim fingers as she quickly jotted down some numbers while mumbling under her breath. He was not sure why in the world he was fixating on her fingers. It was just an ordinary finger with nails and creases. He should be focusing on the payment, making sure that she was not ripping him off with the high price, but he just could not take his eyes off her fingers.

"—and that's the total." Syd said as she pushed the pad towards him. Caleb cleared his throat before glancing at the pad. It was a reasonable price considering the brand of his car. "Cash or charge?"

"Charged." He answered as he leaned to the side, dug his black leather wallet out, extracted a platinum Visa card, and handed to her. She took it without glancing before sliding it through the machine and handed back to him just as quickly. Caleb found himself wondering why she was so hostile toward him. He was usually considered a sociable person to talk to and he was sure that he did not smell, so why was this woman so bent on belittling him? Caleb decided that it was time he brings out some of his old charms back. "You lived here long?" he asked when they were waiting for the process to go through.

Syd turned towards him with a confused look at the randomness. "Yeah, most of my life." She replied with a nod.

"Then you must know the local favorites" He offered with a smile. Syd found herself letting a small smile slip before clearing her throat. It was entirely ridiculous that he made her want to smile along with him.

"You can't go wrong with the seafood. Shellfish is in season and you can bet that every local restaurant have their own unique recipes for the sucker." She said with a small smile. Caleb mentally smirked in victory. All he needed was a little charm to make the girl more talkative.

". I will be here for a while and maybe you could show me around town." He said casually as she handed him the receipt so he could sign it. Taking out a slim silver pen from his breast pocket, he signed his name on the line and handed to her, liking the small smile she wore on her face.

"Well—I would have to--" she stopped mid-sentence as she read the name he just signed. Her face instantly contorted into anger before she whipped around and placed the receipt in the draw before she literally threw the car key along with the alarms at him. His quick reflex caught the keys. "A simple no would suffice." He said coldly as he placed the keys inside his trouser pocket.

She glared at him with tenacity before she opened her mouth. "Men like you do not comprehend a 'simple no.' you tend to get things your way and when you don't, you try every possible way to manipulate others to do it for you." She said with such anger that it actually surprised him.

"Have I ever run over your dog before?" he asked sarcastically. He once heard it from his twin, Jordan that women tend to get overly defensive when it comes to their pets.

"My name is Sydney Langston and I want you to get your money grabbing hands off my house." She said with so much hostile in her tone as she stopped directly in front of him, her lithe frame of barely five- four was ludicrous compared to his six two height.

Caleb registered in his mind this was one of the five sisters who he needed to convinced to sell the mansion. Well, might as well start with the most difficult one. Schooling his feature, he pasted a smile on his face and held out his hand. "Pleasure to meet you." He said professionally.

Sydney looked at the hand offensively. "Not mine. I want you to leave my family alone and hound some others for their home."

Caleb's smile remained in place, but damn, he had never tried to so hard to retain some calmness. "I'm not here to throw you out of your home. I am here to look at a property in request of Mrs. Kyle."

Sydney narrowed her blue gaze doubtfully at him. "I don't believe you." She said shortly.

Caleb nodded once before opening his briefcase and pulled out a thick quality paper written neatly in script. Sydney instantly recognized her elder sister's handwriting as she snatched the paper from his fingers. She read each word thoroughly as if trying to figure out if this whole thing was a fraud. After reading it about three times, Sydney felt that her anger had surfaced once more. Caleb had also noticed this changed and he swiftly retracted the paper from her crushing fingers.

"I take it you were not informing of my coming." Caleb said as he placed the paper back into the briefcase and locked it.

"Somewhat." Sydney snapped as he mumbled incoherent babbled to herself. Amidst the whole situation, Caleb found himself smiling over her rant. He was beginning to get used to her habit of talking or mumbling to herself. It was quite adorable if one could take the words 'freaky' and 'weird' out of the equation.

"I assure you that I came here by invitation." Caleb declared as he watched her face calmed down a bit. Those snapping eyes were still aiming daggers at him but he got the feeling that her temper was only half directed at him this time. Her sudden smile, however, was a different matter. It was not innocent like he had witnessed before, but this one was full of mischief and very wicked.

"I'll bet. Now, why don't you stop by the house to meet the other four women who invited you here?" she said in a mocking tone. Caleb narrowed his gaze in suspicion. He knew that kind of smile all to well. After all, his sister, Alexandra or Lexi, had her own version of the smile. Of course, whenever she directed those smile towards him, he ended up doing the most ridiculous things in the world.

"I'd be happy to." He replied, his gaze holding her as he let her know in a silent way that he was ready to accept whatever she had in store for him. He was not called an Uchiha for nothing.

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Sydney Langston started her truck as the edge of her eyes caught the sight of the said Uchiha climbing into his fancy Range Rover that was possibly more than her income for a whole year. She was used to all of the expensive clothes and fancy cars since a lot of tourists and residents come here every summer to show off their wealth. She was used to the riches flaunting their money around on the most expensive hotels and retreats and their own mansions. Useless things if one asked for her opinion.

Pushing the gear into drive, she drove down the street toward her house. To be truthful, she must have been on crack to invite Mr. Fancy pants to her own private home. She knew that her family was in on a very tight budget and they were border on being kicked out of their own home completely because they could not afford to pay the mortgage as well as having to fix up the mansion itself. So what if this month and the month before, they barely covered the expenses? That certainly was not the reason to force people out of their homes? Moreover, to add to that, what was Mary thinking? Sydney was fully aware of her family's situation and they had talked about selling a couple of times, but this was all too soon.

She did not have much more to pay for her student loans, and she did have some of the credibility to take a loan out from the bank. Knowing her eldest sister, Mary would undeniably refuse to have Sydney take any loans out. Sydney sighed in frustration. Things were supposed to get better since they paid off the loan last month from one of the banker, and she knew that her four sisters had worked their asses off to pay the bills on time.

The only problem was the mansion itself. The classic Dracula castle blended in with 1960s Victorian style, it was huge for five women and two children to live in, not to mention the maintenance of heat and gas and electricity. The better parts of the house were only the first two floors where the sisters pitched in whatever little bits of money they have to help keep it in shape. Of course, that had taken almost all of the money from their paychecks, not counting the bills and everyday expenses.

'If only they were alive.' Sydney thought ruefully as she pulled to a stop light. Her parents had set sailed on their anniversary around Atlantic Ocean and caught in the storm. While her father was alive, her mother had instantly died. Sydney was only eight years old then when the accident happened. It took a very long time for the whole family to heal and when she turned sixteen; her father remarried to his second wife before he passed away three years later, a tragic left the whole family in grief.

The worst followed when a week later, the lawyer had requested a meeting to the family fortune. The fight broke out when Viola, her stepmother claimed the mansion as her own. Since her father did not specifically divide any of the fortune, everything was a mess. Sydney along with her sisters had fought vehemently over the rights of the mansion and they did succeed, but along the way lost every cent to Viola.

Sydney never regretted their decision of claiming the mansion. It was their childhood home and it held a very special meaning to all of them. The mansion itself was build by her father to her mother when they got married. It belonged to the Langston and it will stay as a Langston.

Pulling into the garage, Sydney turned off the engine and got out of the car. She turned to look at the rising sun on the sky and smiled. It was another great day in Newport despite the heavy storm last night. She felt the presence of the black haired executive next to her.

"The view is wonderful." He said in awe as he looked out towards the calm ocean.

"This is the best part of town." Sydney found herself replying before something kicked her. This man is going to take her home away from her family. Despite everything, she was not going to make his stay easy. "Of course, I would not find it amusing if you don't see this in the busy city of Boston. City people do not appreciate nature as we do here."

Caleb found himself smiled in amusement. She was deliberately trying to pick fights with him over the smallest things. Too bad, he was not going to fall into such childish trickery. "I'm not from Boston." He corrected her. "I'm from New York."

Her pale blue gaze snapped at him with anger. "It's the same thing: Big cities with tall building and no appreciation towards nature."

Caleb quirked a brow. Was she some kind of a nature lover? "I could not help but get the feeling that you don't like me?"

"You think?" she snapped sarcastically before walking around him. He caught her wrist easily and swung her to face him once more.

"Why don't you tell me what your problem is exactly?" he said.

"Do you really want to know? You here to take my house away and turn it into one of your glitz hotel with glass doors and twenty foot chandeliers and spouting fountains."

"You have something against fountains?" he asked with amusement.

"I don't want one in my living room." She snapped back angrily.

"Why don't we make this clear right now? I am not here to take your house or your car or your pet away from you. I am here on business and it is not up to me if you decide to sell or not." He said clearly as his gaze never left hers.

Sydney's face softened as her eyes sparkled. "You're wrong." she whispered out as a strong gust of wind blew over them catching the baseball cap she wore and it dropped haplessly on the soft grass revealing the long silvery blonde hair tied up in a high ponytail. The loose strands framed her pale face as Caleb scrunched his brows. Who would have thought the little spitfire was a blonde?

The sound of school bus engine roared down the street and seconds later, her niece and nephew jumped out from the bus and ran straight toward her. Sydney sniffed before pulling out of his grasp just in time her niece swung her little arms around her legs.

"Aunty Syd." The little girl squealed as Sydney bent down to pick her up.

"Hey squirts." Sydney said as she leaned over and ruffled her nephew's blonde locks.

Caleb found himself in a staring contest with the hazel eyes boy who gave him a confused look. Kayla wriggled out of Sydney's grasp and walked hesitantly toward the newcomer. "Hello, my name is Kayla." She said with a grin as she locked her fingers behind her back and Caleb found himself smiling as he spotted her two missing front teeth. "Are you Aunty Syd boyfriend?" she asked innocently. "Mommy said that Aunty Syd is not going to get marry with her attitude."

Caleb chuckled as Sydney swung her gaze towards him with a flushed face. "That's enough out of you squirt." Sydney grumbled before ushering them both into the house. "Go tell your nosy mommy that her guest is here." Sydney remarked before the two monsters race towards the front door.

"So?" Caleb began. "When can I get to see the rest of the house?"

Sydney smirked. "When cow sprout wings—golden wings that is."

"I don't think you need to wait for that." Came an amused voice behind Sydney. Another blonde, taller than Sydney said with a smile on her pretty face. " Liza, please to meet you." She said as she stuck her hand out in a shake. Caleb was relieved to see that the obnoxiousness did not run in the family.

"Caleb Uchiha. Very nice to make your acquaintance." He replied as he took the hand. He hid a smile when he heard Sydney snorted softly from the side.

"I see you met our youngest sister. A tough shell, isn't she?" Liza teased as she linked her arm through his and began walking toward the house.

Caleb relaxed as he felt that this sister was giving him the welcome he needed. "I've met tougher shell that this one."

Sydney mumbled something that sound suspiciously like 'choke', and 'kill' before bypassing them and straight into the house. "We are not finished." She warned as she passed him by.

"Not by a long shot." He murmured back as he stared at her nicely formed rear end. Liza giggled at her sister's attitude.

"She's always take a while to warm up to new people." Liza assured as she reeled him into the house after Sydney. "Why don't you go freshen up before dinner? You'll want to meet the rest of the family I'm sure."

"That would be great." Caleb replied. He was sure he was going to need to freshen up to face Sydney again.

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Author's note: Okay, after so muuuch thoughts and many messages from you readers urging me to write a follow up story of Sasuke and Sakura's children, I got one planned for the first few chapters. It is going to be another romance and very AU, bit I am sure most of you know that already.

Hope you like this starting chapter.


	2. Moonlight

Chapter 2: Moonlight.

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Author's note: Yes I'm alive and still kickin.

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Sydney sat with a definite pout on her face that she tried her best to suppress. She was planning on making his life miserable while he's here, but how in the world was she going to accomplish that if two of her sisters had already took an instant liking to him. Liza, the traitor had introduced him to her second sister, Camilla, with unnecessary friendliness that in her opinion was just plain wrong. Camilla was a people person and she usually get along with everyone within fifty-mile radius, but Caleb did not have to work _his _charms on her sisters. Sydney scrunched her face. He was a great actor, which she was aware of. He was incredibly polite and well mannered during the brief meeting compare to his meeting with her during this afternoon. Sydney concluded that she had gotten behind the real mask of that Caleb Uchiha. After all, why was he so rude and obnoxious to her while he was acting completely different with her sisters?

"_Or maybe it was the fact that you jumped down his throat as soon as you realized who he was._' The tiny voice inside her head remarked dryly.

Sydney bit her lips, unaware that another set of eyes was observing her from the doorway of the kitchen.

"So, where is the guest of honor?" a sweet voice asked. Sydney turned to see Alyson standing there with a bottle of Poland Spring in her hand; her short blonde bob was perfect and knotless compare to her own.

Sydney frowned at the question. "Sweetie, did I not tell you that frowning like that caused nothing but wrinkles and negative vibes." Alyson chided gently before sitting next to her baby sister. Sydney and herself was only three years apart and in some way, Alyson understood her feelings the most.

"If you don't want me to frown don't ask me about that man!" Sydney remarked glumly.

"I heard he's quite the charmer, that one." Alyson remarked casually.

"Charming my ass." Sydney replied dryly as she rolled her eyes.

"Honey, that's not very nice." A new voice reprimanded softly as Sydney looked up to see her eldest sister, Mary breeze into the kitchen with some vegetable from the backyard garden. Sydney quickly rushed up to help her carry in the stuff for dinner.

"Sorry." Sydney mumbled an apology, sounding very trite. "But the sooner he's gone the better." She added underneath her breath. Mary caught the words and sighed. There was not anything anyone could say or do to change Sydney's opinion when she made up her mind.

"Have you met him yet, Mary?" Alyson asked as she took another sip of the fresh water and let out a contented sigh in the process.

"Not yet. We will all make a proper introduction during dinner. Speaking of which, Alyson, do you have time to help me make Mom's apple pie for dinner?"

"Wow. Special dessert during weekday." Alyson remarked impishly as she got off the stool and set the things for the dessert. Sydney smiled before slipping out the back door toward the backyard leaving her two sisters to cook the food.

A bark was heard and Sydney laughed when Rufus, the golden retriever attacked her playfully with a Frisbee in his mouth. "All right Mutt. I'll play with you." Sydney said before she took the slobbering Frisbee from the dog's mouth and tossed it over the grassy hill. Rufus instantly got to his feet and ran to chase after the toy. Sydney laughed when she caught the sight of Rufus wagging his tail happily before retrieving the toy and ran back towards her.

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Caleb unpacked his belongings and hung them up in the closet that was possibly the size of a small bedroom. His room was huge, enormous in his opinion. It was daft and hallow, but thankfully, the bed was soft as a cloud. Three giant bay windows looked out into the endless deep blue Atlantic and the vast green field surrounded the mansion itself. This one spot would undoubtedly attract a lot of attention once the resort was build. Everything was perfect from the ground to the spectacular view. Yes, now all he has to do was convinced the sisters to take the money and run without pressuring them in any way.

True that he was a businessman and businessmen tended to take things seriously in a matter of life and death situation. He was no different but there were limits to these extents. It was a well-known fact that he had strong morals in doing things the right way and this situation was no different. He was fully intending on using his persuasion skills to convince the women that looking for a new home would be a wise choice. They would be rich after the sale after all. The property worth at least ten millions easily and they could have a luxury life afterward and he would get on with his project.

He was sure that persuading the fours sisters would not be that hard. It was Sydney that he had his doubt. The woman was simply irrational and extremely unreasonable at times. He had never met more stubborn woman than Sydney Langston. He could not understand why she was so hostile towards him. He understood the fact that he was here to buy the property but sellers and buyers tends to be on good terms with one another. He had no clue why she was so vehement on pushing him back to New York but he was also inflexible to have his way and by one or another, he was going to have his way. She was not the only one who was born with a will that could move mountains.

The sound of his cell phone trilling through the quiet atmosphere cut through his reverie. Digging into his pocket, he extracted the device and glanced at the caller ID. Smiling softly as the number flashed on the small LCD screen, he flipped the phone and brought it to his ear.

"Hello, Mama." Caleb greeted as he wandered over toward the windows.

"Well, I assumed that you lost my number that you did not call me for the past weeks." Came her dry voice and Caleb could already imagine her rolling her eyes upward.

"I was busy, Mama." He replied easily enough and it was the truth after all. He had been busy.

"Hm, so your father had told me. He also said that you're working on a new project somewhere up North."

"Rhode Island to be exact, and yes."

"I'll take a wild guess and say that you're not going to be here for Mr. Houston's Gala tonight either."

"You're good." Caleb said with a suppressed chuckle.

"Such a shame. His daughter, Emma had just come back from London. She would love to see you again." Sakura ventured innocently enough.

Caleb made a face. Oh, he remembered Miss Emma Houston all right. The great and proper heiress to the Houston's Magazine was nothing but short of a tramp. He shivered as he recalled the night when she had literally jumped him at her father's sixty eight-birthday bash in the men's room.

"I apologize, Mama." Caleb replied sounding innocent. He had realized that he would rather face a house full of women than to face Emma Houston again.

"All right, but call me if you can make it on time." Sakura persisted as Caleb suppressed a retort that he would rather face herds of buffalos rather to be anywhere in the fifty mile radius of the promiscuous woman.

"I will. Give my regards to father." He said before bidding his mother a farewell. He sat down on the edge of the bed with a sigh. He was suddenly so glad that he had made a decision of leaving New York before his mother could lay her guilt trip on him. Usually, his father would escort her to these events but there are times when even Sasuke Uchiha had his limits, which resulted in either one of the twins to accompany their mother, and when his mother had ask him, he don't think that he would be able to deny her. Now that he was away, there was only one other person that their mother would ask tonight. His cell phone rang again and Caleb laughed when he saw the number flashing on the screen. Flipping the device, he did not have time to bring it close to his ear as Jordan's voice rang out.

"Thanks a lot ass for landing me a date tonight." Came his twin's dry voice.

Caleb chuckled. "Mama gotten to you that fast already? I would have thought she would wait until later."

"Che, not likely. I had to cancel my date with Clarissa too."

"Well, then you can compensate that tonight. Emma is back in town." Caleb said.

"Fuck me. What is she doing back so soon?" Jordan's voice sounded surprised.

"Why are you so shocked?"

"It's just that she's in the middle of a nasty divorce."

"She's married? You don't say." Caleb remarked.

"Was, dumbass." His twin corrected.

"That's neither here or there. One thing for sure is that I am not going to be the one she jumps tonight."

"Yeah, yeah. You owe me big time." With that, Jordan disconnected and Caleb smiled. His twin was always going to be the same. His wild dating habits with different models and actresses has landed him as the playboy of New York in the tabloid, not that his twins did much to denied the title. Easygoing and charming, Jordan obviously had inherited that trait from their mother, while Caleb himself had inherited the seriousness and stoic from their father.

Sighing, Caleb glanced at the clock to see that it was already six thirty. He wandered towards the giant bay window that out looked into the Atlantic Ocean. The sky was impossibly clear blue reflecting the clear water and the waves from the ocean. He was so used to bustling cities, cars and tourists, mega shopping complexes and elegant restaurants that he almost forgot how people lived in quiet towns like this. His mother would have love Newport.

He would have to keep in mind to bring his mother here as soon as the construction was done. Speaking of which, he was still have to convince the women to sell first. He was pretty sure that the other four would be no problem at all; it was the devil spawn from hell, Sydney Langston herself.

He was positive that the others were at least pretend to be nice and welcome him even though he was quite aware of their feelings of him invading their home like this, but Sydney, she did not spare him the welcome mat or roll out the welcome wagon. No, she intended to run him off as soon as she realized who he was. Caleb concluded that she has no manners of simple courtesy. He had a feeling that she was going to put up quite a fight before he could take her house. As strange as it might be, he was looking forward to sparring with her.

Eventually, he was going to have to face the army of women who possibly wanted to rip him into shreds. He sighed and walked toward the door to the living room where he imagined the women would be.

The house structure was incredibly amazing. He could see the hardship and labor the owner put into building this mansion. Everything spoke wealth and richness from the dark mahogany hardwood floor to the ceiling which he was pretty sure was hand carved. One of the sisters had told him about the history of the house and he was quite taken with it. The man who pitched in every penny he owned to build a mansion like this must have truly loved his wife.

Veering off to the right, he encountered the she-devil herself wrestling with the two children he met earlier. He leaned against the doorway with an amuse smile on his face. So the hissing snake had a soft spot after all. She was all smiling and laughing, her blond hair askew, her face flushed as if she had just finished making love. Caleb smacked himself mentally. He did not just think that. She was the thorn in his side after all. He was not supposed to think like that of her. He was named the ice king of St. Vincent Private Academy for Christ sake!

"Children, wash up for dinner." Mary's voice carried out from the kitchen as the children moan, disappointed that their game was interrupted by dinner. They marched sulkily toward the sink leaving Sydney to laugh at the antics and the cleaning. Her laughter was contagious, he noticed as he felt the ticking of his upper lips. He would have to remember that.

Sydney stopped laughing as she caught sight of Caleb. She did not even noticed he was standing there at all. She sobered up and began to pick up all of the cushions that came apart during her wrestling match with her niece and nephew, and in the process set on ignoring him even if it kills her.

"Hello Sydney." Caleb said in a friendly tone. "Nice day is it not?"

Sydney shot him a glare. "Nothing is ever nice with you around." She mumbled as she folded the blanket and put it on the couch.

"Are you capable of having a normal conversation?" Caleb asked with a shrug.

Sydney's eyes narrowed as she bit her tongue. "Apparently, you're always managed to get on my bad side."

"I can see that." He replied with a small grin. "I think I have a natural talent for that."

"For being an ass? Can't argue with you there." She shot back with equal smugness.

"For being charming." He corrected.

"In what world?" she scoffed as she turned to face him, hands on her hips as if she was facing an army instead of just a man.

"In whatever world you're living in."

"I was wrong. You're not only an ass, but also a narcissist as well." Sydney said with a roll of her eyes.

"CitY people tend to possess that quality." He stated with a twitch of his lips.

"Which is why I don't associate with them." she replied smugly.

"We also learn how to converse properly." Caleb added.

"Are you trying to imply that I can't 'converse properly?'" Sydney said as her anger sparked.

"Not can't, just won't." he corrected as his fingers touched a strand of her hair and tucked it behind her ear. Sydney stepped back.

"Have you ever thought of the fact that I don't have anything nice to say to you?"

"If you think really hard, you will." He countered easily.

"I'm not even going to bother." Sydney shot back.

A misplaced cough interrupted them as they both turn to see Liza standing in the doorway with a huge grin on her glowing face. "I hate to break up the spat, as entertaining as it was, we're waiting for you."

Sydney growled lowly underneath her breath as she tried her best not to storm away.

"That was quite…interesting." Liza said as she tried to hide her laughter.

"She doesn't like me." Caleb said with a chuckled.

"Why do I have the idea that you're enjoying making her mad?" Liza asked curiously though her eyes portrayed differently.

"Do you?" he asked indifferently. "I have no idea."

Liza giggled. "A piece of advice, if you're going to continue to provoke her, makes sure you have a really good coverage on your health insurance. You're going to have your hands full."

Caleb chuckled. "I'll call my insurance to check." He said before walking toward the commotion.

"Make sure you do that." Liza said before following him into the dining room.

Sydney scowled with all of her might as Mr. Narcissist laughed easily to one of Alyson's joke. She would give him credit for being such a great actor, but she could see through those amuse eyes that cast frequent glance at her. He definitely had a challenge in his gaze, inviting her to start something. She bit her lips and narrowed her gaze, her knife and fork cutting viciously through the tender steak. She was looking forward to dinner especially with Mary's specialty on a weekday, but somehow, she would rather prefer his head on her plate and the satisfaction of sawing the jagged knife through his skull.

Camilla, her second sister had smiled easily along enough with the conversation, throwing her opinion when needed. Mary, the eldest was looking as calm as usual saved for the tired eyes of having to watch two hyperactive children. Her third sister, Liza was openly enjoying Mr. Narcissist's company way to much along with Alyson, whom Sydney had labeled the traitor since she was the closest to Sydney, she should feel the hatred emitting from her youngest sister. Sydney felt that she was the only one fighting to keep the house, but she immediately crushed the thought. Every family member wanted to keep the house as much as she was and Sydney felt shame for even thinking of that. She blamed it on Caleb and his unannounced arrival here for the cause of her mixed up thinking. Of course, everything that goes wrong today had been his fault and she was not taking that thought back.

Her thought immediately went murderous when Caleb caught her gaze and winked cutely. The poor plate did not have a chance before it cracked into two even pieces.

Caleb thought he ought to retreat to his room before Sydney decided to frost him on the spot with her immense glare. Seriously, how in the world does anybody keep that kind of glare twenty-four-seven? However, Sydney seemed too had mastered it perfectly. The debacle during dinner was nothing short of comical. He was sure that she was not aware of her strength and was even more surprised when she cracked the plate into two. It took everything

inside of him not to laugh aloud. The blonde-haired nymph was too cute for her own good.

After dinner was over, the four women had invited him to sit in the living room and insist on getting to know one another. He should have declined since opening up to women was not his specialty, but Sydney's scowl had widened at the request and he could not pass up the opportunity.

He learned their family history more in depth and he felt a twinge of guilt that Sydney did not get to see much of her parents before they passed away. Was that the reason why she was always so bitter and lack manners as well? He was not suicidal enough to ask that directly. The sisters were openly nice to him, asking him about his work and him returning the answer ignoring the last sister's snide muttered comment every now and then.

It was sometimes before nine before he excused himself to his bedroom. The night sky was dark with stars spreading wide across. He had never seen so many stars in the states as much as he did in Japan, but in Rhode Island, it was pretty damn close. The waves were calm tonight, bashing softly against the rock as the crickets chirped softly. It was nice compare to the bustling noise of New York. He could clearly see the garden from here. The blooming flowers reflected brightly against the moonlight accompanied by the cool breeze. Irresistible, he decided that a walk in the garden was needed. Placing his light sweater on, he opened the back door noiselessly and slipped out into the shadow.

He hasn't had time to sit and appreciate the view like this in New York. Despite his workaholic antics, he was a nature lover since birth and appreciates everything that nature has to offer. His light footsteps were soft against the cool dirt beneath his feet and it actually took him a while to figure out that he was barefoot. Funny how he had forgotten to put on simple thing like shoes. The relaxing and calm atmosphere seemed surreal and Caleb smiled and absorbed in.

The tiny movement against the bush had him fully on alert. He crouched into the shadow and slowly made his way towards the suspicious place. What he saw made him smiled.

Sydney was sitting on the opposite side of where he had been. Both of her knees were drawn up as she rested her chin delicately upon it. Her hair was loose from the ponytail she sported earlier. The silvery blond strands flew slightly from the on coming wind, but it was her face that held him. The deep shadow of loneliness as if she had just lost something precious to her.

He was hesitant whether he should make himself known or not. She seemed so down that he wanted to relieve her of her problem, but at the same time, it was none of his business and she was most reliable to scorn him more with her venomous words. He should not care at all since she had been nothing but plain rude to him. She had insulted him with every chance she got.

It was at her first drop of tear that had him straightened. Without thinking, so unlike him, he walked into the lioness cage. His senses told him to run away from her since he was never particularly good with crying women, saved from his sister, Alexandra, or Lexi for short. But his conscience, the traitor, was urging him on towards her, never mind the fact that she would probably ended up telling him to go to the devil or worst. Her mood was the most unpredictable thing he had ever come across. Clearing his throat he prepared himself to be known.

Sydney's reaction was that her head whipped around so fast to look at him with surprised before the pale blue eyes narrowed into tiny slits when she recognized him.

"May I join you?" he asked normally, careful to keep his tone neutral.

"No." she answered shortly before turning back around and set on ignore him. Caleb almost smiled at her behavior and he sat down next to her anyway.

"Too bad." He replied and made himself comfortable.

"Don't you ever take no for an answer?" Sydney snapped at him as she scooted away from him.

"It's not in my nature." He said with a grin.

"So you finally admit that you're an animal." Sydney said smugly as she bared her teeth in a resemblance of a smile.

"That's what most women say about me in bed, yes." Caleb acknowledged with a nod and got the satisfaction to see Sydney's face flushed deep crimson.

"Disgusting pig." She mumbled. "Go away will you? You're disturbing my peace."

"I don't think so. I feel peaceful right now." Caleb answered as he closed his eyes.

"Is that why you're going to take my home away? Because you're at peace when others are in misery?" Sydney snapped as she glared at him.

Caleb sighed as he pried one eye open. He felt that he should keep both eyes open in case she decided to murder him with that glare of hers. "Didn't we go over this already? I'm not here to take anything away from you. Your house is yours until you decide to sell it to me."

"So you can make it into one of your glossy hotels? You of all people don't understand what it means to loose something you love the most. Not that I expect you too, anyway. Why did you even target this mansion in the first place? It's not as if this is the only one in Rhode Island."

"True. You may think whatever you wish, but I get the feeling that the mansion is not really your source of anger."

"What are you talking about?" Sydney asked with a narrowed gaze.

"You are the only one who seemed so threatened by my presence here above all of your family members. Are you afraid of me?" Caleb asked with amusement as he struggled to keep his face blank and nearly laughed when her chest heaved with anger.

"Afraid of you? Why would I be afraid of you? You're nothing but a jerk who takes pleasure in running people out of their homes so you could convert it into one of your hotels. You're an inconsiderate jerk who makes my life miserable the first time you step into my shop with that arrogant attitude of yours and your big bad Range Rover. I'm not afraid of you, I loath you and your fancy tie and your Italian shoes and your methods of persuasion that made my sisters all…girly." Sydney finished somewhat embarrassingly.

Caleb was openly laughing now. "Wow. Does not that feel good to get off your chest?" he said between laughter as Sydney tried to control her breathing.

"Die, asshole." She snapped before getting up and prepare stalked towards the house angrily. Caleb snagged her wrist lightly but firmly to hold her in place.

"Just hold on a minute. You just insulted me back there and then you walk away? What happens to 'if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say it at all' rule?"

"You want an apology?" Sydney asked with a scoffed, and then she narrowed her eyes. "Okay. I'm sorry that I don't anything nice to say to you and I don't look up to you like some savior."

Caleb shook his head. "For the life of me, I can't understand why I'm trying to be reasonable with you." He murmured before walking away.

"You're going to run away? Can't stay and fight a fair battle, Uchiha?" Sydney taunted daringly and Caleb stopped abruptly.

"Excuse me?" his tone cold as he turned his eyes upon her.

Sydney felt prickles along her nerves from his change of attitude. Her senses were telling her to run away, not to provoke him any further, but her pride held her back from backing down like a coward. "You heard me. People like you never fight fair. You use underhand methods to get what you want, not caring whether others get hurt in the process. You don't understand the meaning of the word fair."

"And you do? You didn't even give me the chance to defend myself before you jump down my throat. All you see in me is the person who's going to take your home away. Tell me, Sydney, how are you different than me?" he said taking a few steps closer to her. Sydney held her ground, refusing to back down.

"I'm not like you." She bit out coldly. "I will never be like you."

"Yeah?" he asked mockingly as he took the last step towards her. They were inches apart and she could smell his scent. Sandalwoods and spice. "Just how do you know about my 'kind' so much?"

"My father was married to one of you." She answered with a glare.

"Just because you've had bad experience with your step-mother, doesn't mean you can treat me like I'm a plague just because I happen to be the kind of people that your step-mother is." Caleb said as his tone calmed down a bit.

"You're all the same from where I'm standing." She shot back. "Greedy, selfish and very deceptive."

"Maybe you should change your angle." He suggested.

"I'd rather not." She shot back dryly.

"You know, I understand your feelings, but do you think you could at least attempt to act--"

Sydney bared her teeth at him. "If you're going to call me immature, I'm going to jump you."

Caleb wisely his amusement at the images brought to his mind by that statement. "I was going to say civilly. So how about it? For the duration of the stay, we'll act civilly toward one another. That means no name calling, no making rude comments and attempt to tolerate each other's presence."

"What if I have to tell you that you have a stick up your ass from time to time?" Sydney asked with a smirk.

Caleb held in his smile. "Please refrain from doing so." He held out his hand. "So, do we have a deal?"

Sydney looked unsure for a few moments before she hesitantly shook his hand with her own. "Fine, but as soon as we make the decision on the mansion, I'm going back to hating you."

"Couldn't agree more." Caleb consented with a smile. She looked so irresistible now that the initial bout of tension was gone. At this close range, he could see her bright blue eyes, her flawless skin and the tempting mouth she used to insult him so often. The full pout lips were pink and very, very tempting. How would it feels to taste those lips, he mused as her pink tongue darted out to lick the outer line of her lips.

Only one way to find out.

He pulled her closer and bent his head. He could feel the shock reverberating through her body.

Sydney was stunned. She did not expect him to kiss her. Most of all, she did not expect his lips to be so hot and hard. She had thought that men like him would kiss a woman with sophistication and bland. She was wrong. She was so wrong because when she managed to wrenched a gasp, he slid his tongue inside her mouth expertly. This kiss was nothing like she had ever experienced before. He was a stranger yet his kiss felt familiar to her. It was ridiculous, Sydney thought as she slid her arms around his neck. She was not kissing him back.

He lifted his head and looked at her in the eyes. She was breathless and so was he.

Caleb shook his head to dispel the thick haze of lust from his brain before he realized what he had done. Still holding on to her, he swallowed hardly.

"Sydney, I…" he didn't even finished the sentence before she wrenched away from him and managed to slap him on his cheek before turning her back and stalked toward the house.

Caleb stood stunned as he lifted his hand to feel his heated cheek. Many things went through his head. One, he could clearly hear his mother's voice reprimanding him for doing such a thing to a nice girl like Sydney. He snorted. Nice? He'd rather called the Devil and angel than to use the word nice to describe Sydney.

Two: he did not even feel sorry for what he did. If he could, lord, he'd do it again.

And three: so much for the truce between them.

Caleb groaned. The truce didn't even last two minutes!

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Author's note: hope you like this chapter and hopefully the next one will be finished soon.


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